Gambling dens may burn, says Ali Tinju

AMPANG JAYA: Do not blame us if illegal gambling premise go up in flames.
That was the warning by army veteran Mohd Ali Baharom, or known as Ali Tinju, in a press conference today on the illegal gambling menace in the country.
"I would like to remind the authorities, including the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, to take action especially to order every district police chiefs to conduct operations to close down these illegal gambling dens.
"We know that Khalid is not at fault, but police chiefs should also act in the way that they have been assigned especially in combating these illegal activities from growing," Ali told reporters in a media briefing here today.
It is learnt that Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) had joined forces with over 36 other NGOs including Gabungan NGO Selangor, Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia and Persatuan Veteran Tentera Malaysia to form a task force to wage war against illegal gambling dens nationwide.
JMM president Azwanddin Hamzah said the coalition and the task force had decided to channel all information pertaining to illegal gambling syndicates and expose the locations of the dens to media.
"Let us be straight forward in this matter because our suggestions to disseminate information on online gambling has fallen on deaf ears for the past three years and now we have decided to trust and work together with the media to end these activities as it has caused extensive damage to dozens of families.
"We are fed up with the amount of efforts we put for the past years as the head of the syndicates and the shop owners are not arrested in most cases, and this situation enables them to continue with their activities after some time," Azwanddin said.
He added that illegal gambling is wrecking families especially relationships which end in divorce.
In an immediate reaction Khalid issued a stern warning to Ali Tinju that there are laws in the country that one should adhere to.
"I would like to remind him that this country has its laws and I hope he will not violate them. He has to bear the consequences of what he had said," Khalid told theSun when contacted.
Azwanddin had revealed on Tuesday that a man with the title of Datuk Seri was behind the illegal operations of gambling dens in Ampang Jaya but Selangor police chief Commissioner Datuk Abdul Samah Mat expressed his disappointment as the actions of the NGO in going public on the widespread illegal gambling activities had thwarted a planned police raid at the dens.